Lazy Tortilla Pizzas, Two Ways

I was looking through my sweet new cookbook, the classic The Way to Cook by Julia Child, and came upon a nice idea for a quick pizza without all the elbow grease that goes into preparing pizza dough without owning a standing mixer. I do love to make dough by hand, but the process needs to be started early in the day so that the dough has time to prove and rise. The book had the idea of using flour tortillas in place of the dough. I had exactly two tortillas left, so it was an experimentation day in Edens Kitchen (we live on Eden Street in a nice little town in Massachusetts).

I decided to do my two standby pizza recipes for this experimental crust; a nice plain cheese pizza for my wife Jess, and a sauceless spinach pizza for myself. The tortilla "crust" comes out so thin that these are perfect for personal pizzas. Cheese pizzas are pretty simple; besides the dough, all you need is any kind of tomato sauce and cheese. Mozzarella is the obvious must-have cheese for pizzas, and I like to add some shredded cheddar for extra flavor. We had some leftover garlic pasta sauce in the fridge so that worked great for the base; I've also got a few different varieties of spices mixes, and McCormick Italian works really great with pizza. Sprinkle a teaspoon or two on the sauce before you add the cheese. 

Next up, heres the recipe for one of my favorite pizzas. Its got no sauce, a bunch of great veggies, and so much tasty flavor:

Veggie and Oil Lazy Tortilla Pizza
1 1/2 cups spinach
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese/ 1/4 cup cheddar
4-5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
4-5 olives, diced
3 tablespoons red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic, diced

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. With all your ingredients at hand, start by brushing your olive oil and garlic onto the tortilla. Don't go too nuts, you just want a thin layer of oil on the tortilla before you add the vegetables. Next, throw all your spinach onto your dough. Leave about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of space between the spinach and the edge of your dough, and follow my Secret Crust tip*. I get very methodical when I'm putting the more flavorful ingredients on top of the spinach, because once again I try my best to have every slice have all of the toppings included. 

Next, throw your cheeses on top and throw that pizza in the oven for 7-10 minutes and you're done! I have a little pizza stone that works great, but if you don't have one you can turn a cookie sheet upside down and use that, just be careful of cheese dripping off and getting on the bottom of your oven. You can put another cookie sheet below to catch the drippy cheese if you're worried. 

*Daves Secret Crust Tip: My favorite secret weapon for pizzas is all in the crust. Before your pizza goes in the oven, get a little olive oil (if you like garlic, chop some up and throw it in the oil), then brush the oil all over the exposed parts of the crust. Once its got a nice coat of oil, grab some grated parmesan cheese and spread it on the oiled crust. The result is a nice crisp, cheesy crust on your pizza.